The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-19

might, through such an institution, he benefited
IN their spiritual relations, There are Christian
people who seem TO think that il Is q good sign
to be poorly; and because Richard Baxter and
Robert Hall were invalids they think by the
same sickness they may come TO the same
grandeur of character. | want to tell the
Christian people of my congregation that God
will hold you responsible for your nvalidism II
II is your fault and when through right exercise
and prudence you might be athletic and well,
The effect of the body upon the soul you
acknowledge. Put a man of mild disposition
upon the animal diet of which the Indian par
takes, and in little while his blood will change
its chemical proportion 10 will become IKE
unto the blood of the lion, or the tiger, or the
bear while his disposition will change and
become fierce, cruel and unrelenting. The body
has powerful effect upon the soul.
There are good people whose ideas of heaven
are all shut out with clouds of tobacco-smoke.
There are people who dare to shatter the phys
ical vase In which God has put the jewel of eter-
nifty. There are men with great hearts and IN
teilects in bodies worn ont by their own neglects
magnificent machinery capable OF propelllng
a Great Eastern across the Atlantic, yet fast
ened in rckety North river propeller. Martin
Luther was so mighty for God, first, because be
had noble soul, and secondly, because he had
a muscular development which would have ena
hled him to thrash any five of his prosecutors.
If it had been Christian so TO do Physical de
velopment which merely shows itself in fabu
lous lifting, or in perious rope-walkng, or In
pugiistic encounter, excites only our contempt
but we confess to great admiration for the
man who has great soul in an
athletic body, every nerve, muscle and
bone of which is coLsecrated to right
uses. Oh, il seems to me outrageous that
men. through neglect, should allow their phys
ical health to go down beyond repair. ship
which ought with all sail set and every man at
his post, to be carrying rich cargo for eter-
nifty, employing all its men in stopping up leak
ages! When you may, through the gymna
SUM, work oft your spleen and your querulous
ness and one-nalf of your physical and mental
all satafa n t,trp -AffF hnn ClTph "A
grand medicament.
Still further: commend to you a large class
of parlor games and recreations. There is a
way of making our homes hundred fold more
attractive than they are now. Those parents
cannot expect to keep their children away from
outside dissipations unless they make the do
mestic circle brighter than anything they can
find outside of it, Do not, then, sit in your
home surly and unsympathetic, and with half
condemnatory look, because of the sportfu
ness of your children. You wore young
once yourself; let your children be
Young. Because your eyes are dim and your
ankles are stiff, do not denounce sportfulness In
those upon whose eyes there is the first lustre,
and in whose foot there is the bounding joy of
robust health. thank God that in our draw
ingrooms and in our parlors there are innumer-
able games and sports which have not upon
them the least taint of iniquity. Light up all
your homes with innocent hlarities Do not
sit down with the rheumatism, wondering how
children can go on so. Rather thank Goo that
their hearts are so light and their laughter is so
free, and that their cheeks are so rliddy. and
that their expectations are so radiantg The
night will come soon enough, and the heart
break, and the pang. and the desolation-
it will come soon enough for the dear
children. But when the storm actually
clouds the sky, it will be time enough
for YOU TO haul out your reef tackles.
Garry, then, into your homes not only the in
nocent sports and games which are the inven-
tions of our own day, but The games which
come down with the sportfulness of all the past
1al.san a fatxl
tledore and calisthenics and lawn tennis, and all
those amusements which the young people of
our homes know so well how to contrive. Then
there will be the parlor socialities- groups of
peoples assembled in your homes, with wit and
mimicry and joviality, filling the room with joy
from the door TO the mantel, and from the car
pet to the ceiling. Oh, is there any exhilira-
tion like score of genial souls in one room,
each one adding a contribution of his own indi-
vidual merriment to the aggregation Of general
hilarityy
Suppose you want to go abroad In the city,
then you will find the panorama and the art
gallery and exquisite collections of pictures.
You will find the Metropolitan museum and the
Historical Society rooms full of rare curiosi-
ties, and scores of places which can stand
plainly the test of what is right and wrong in
amusements. You will find the lecturing hall,
which has been honored by the names of Agas-
siZ in natural history, Doremus in chemistry,
Boynton in geology, Mitchell in astronomy,
John B. Cough in moral reform, and scores and
genius and ingenuity through that particular
channel upon the hearts and consciences and
imaginations of men, setting this country fifty
years further in advance than it would have
been without the lecture platform.
i rejoice in the popularization OF outdoor
sports. | hail the croquet ground, and the fish
ermans rod and the sportsman's gun. In our
cities life is so unhealthy and unnatural that
when the census-taker represents city rs
having 400 900 inhabitants, there only 200 900
since It takes at least two men to amount to one
man, so depicting and unnerving and exhaust
ing is this metropolitan life. We want more
fresh air, more sunlight, more of the abandon
of field sports l cry out for it in behalf OF the
church Of God as well as in behalf Of secular i'll
terests. ! wish that this winter our ponds
and our rivers and our capitoline
the heel and the shout of the swift
skater. wish that when the warm weather
comes, the graceful oar might dip the stream
and the evening tide be resonant with boatman' s
song the bright PROV splitting the crystal line
billow We shall have the smooth and grassy
lawn, and we will call out people Of all occupa
tions and professions, and ask them 10 join In
the ball l-pl0yer's sport. You will come back
from these outdoor exercises and recreations
with strength in your arm, color in your cheek
and fash in your eye, ana courage ID youi
against the kingdom Of darkness we want moi
only IA consecrated soul, but strong arm ano
stout lungs and mighty muscle. l bless God
that there are so many recreations that have
,
which we may engage for the strengthening OF
tine body. for the clearing Of the intellect, fol
the illumination Of the soul.
There is still another form of recreation which
commend TO you, and that is tho pleasure OF
uoing good. | have seen young mer, weak and
cross and sour and repelling in their disposition
who by one heavenly touch have wakened ur
and become blessed and buoyant, the ground
under their feet and the sky over their heads
breaking forth into music. " Oh, says some
young man in the house today, Il should IKE
that recreation above all others, but | have not
the means" My dear brother let MS take an
account of stock this morning. You have o
large estate, II you only realize IT, Two hands.
Two feet You win have, perhaps, during the
next year at least ten dollars for charitable con
tribution You will have twenty-five hundred
cheerful IooKs, il you want TO employ them.
You will have five thousand pleasant words, II
you want 20 speak them Now what an amount
that is 70 start with
You 20 out tomorrow morning and you see a
case Of real destitution by the wayside. You
give him two cents, The blind man hears the
pennies rattle in bis hat, and he says, Thank
you, sir God bless you" You pass down the
Street. trying 10 look indifferent; but you feel
from the very depth of your soul a profound
satisfaction that yoii made that man happy.
You 20 on still further, and find poor boy with
a wheelharrow, trying TO get IL up on the curb
stones He fails Ia the attempt. You say,
stand back, my lad; let me Try You push Il
up on the curostone for him, and pass on. He
wonders who that welldressed man was that
helped him. You did kindness to the boy, but
you did a great JOY to your own soul You VIII
not get over II all the week. =,
On the streete tomorrow morning. you VIII
see sick nan passing along. "Ah, you say
what can ! do TO make this man happy? he
certainly does not want money; he Is not poor,
but be is sick" Give him one OF those twentyhy
hundred cheerful looks that you have garnered
up for the whole year. Look JOY and hopeful
recq into hig Gotl II will thrill him through.